In preparing a lesson on sexual purity for senior high camp I am considering the lives a 3 men in Scripture: Joseph, Samson, and David. There are so many more I would love to dig into also. I'd love to look at Daniel, who had purposed in his heart not to be defiled. Or even Paul who taught that it was better not to marry at all. I have to admit that, as a young woman, that idea made me kinda mad at Paul. But after many years of marriage, I get it. I have a wonderful husband and I can see how he could accomplish more for the kingdom if he didn't have a wife and kids to take care of. So I need to make it my duty to make his home a place of refreshment so he is encouraged in his ministry. But with that said let's take a look at Samson.
Here's an interesting situation to find yourself in. You'd have to read Judges 13 through 16 to get the overview of his life. And we do get the start to finish and it began with an angel visiting a barren couple. The angel told Manoah's wife, who isn't mentioned by name, "Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not eat anything unclean. For behold, you shall conceive and bare a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and sh shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." Hmmmm. So what exactly is a Nazarite vow? The vow of the Nazirite was usually for a time of unusual devotion to God. Ordinarily this public vow was for a limited time. There were three prohibitions. (1) total abstinence from everything associated with wine, couldn't even eat a grape; (2) no trimming of the hair; and (3) no contact with a dead body. From the womb Samson was called to fulfill this vow even to the point that those expectations were placed on his mother while she carried him. Kind of makes me think that Samson is going to be a remarkable, godly man. Samson's Nazirite service was remarkable in three ways. First, he didn't take the vow voluntarily, it was his before birth. Second, his service was to be lifelong, not temporary. Third, He eventually broke every one of it's stipulations: his head was sheared, he associated with the dead and he drank at his wedding feast. God's purpose was to begin to deliver the Isrealites from the Philistines. I think that's pretty interesting. How would you like for God to call you to strict vow and your ultimate goal being the beginning of a great work? He wasn't planning to use Samson to fully deliver them, just begin to deliver them. Sometimes we get to be the stepping stones. Samson grew and the Lord blessed him and His spirit moved upon him, literally, impelled him. The Spirit of the Lord was pushing Samson toward doing the work that God wanted him to do. , Samson goes to Timnah and checks out a Philistine woman. He goes to his mom and dad and wants them to go get her for him as a wife, because she 'pleases him'. They weren't too excited about that. A good little Jewish boy shouldn't marry one of those Philistine girls. But God was at work paving the way for the Philistine's destruction. On the way a lion came roaring at them and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he tore the lion apart with his bare hands. Seriously! I bet none of you could tear a phone book apart with your bare hands! And he goes to see this girl and now she not only pleases him but pleases him well. He must have gotten an even closer look. And as he's walking away he notices bees coming from the carcass of the lion he had torn up and, ya know where there bees, there is honey. Samson takes some of the honey comb out of the carcass of the lion and shares it with his mother and father. Uh oh, vow number one broken. He touched a dead animal and not only that but ate from it, and not only that he shared it with his parents causing them to unknowingly become defiled. So Samson's dad goes and gets the woman and Samson holds a feast. Broken vow number 2, Samson drinks wine at this feast. Samson, always one for a good practical joke, decides to give his Philistine companions a little riddle with a wager attached, 30 linen garments. And for 3 days they couldn't explain the riddle. So they get an idea. Get the new wife to entice Samson. They threatened to burn her and her father's house with fire if she didn't. I can see it now. The little woman comes in with puppy dog eyes, tears welling up and says 'you don't love me. You have posed a riddle to my people but you won't even explain it to me.' But he resists at first so she cries for 7 days. So he gives in to shut her up. She tells the Philistine men and they win the bet. Well Samson is enraged, he goes to Ashkelon, the Spirit of the Lord falls mightily upon him, he kills 30 Philistine men, takes their clothes and gives them to the 30 Philistine companions, and left. Samson's wife was given to his friend, who had been the best man. After a while Samson's anger cooled and he decided he wanted to go see his wife. He gets there and finds out that his wife had been given away. Samson decided this time he wouldn't kill people but instead tied torches to pairs of foxes tails and sent them through their crops, orchards and vineyard. When the Philistine learned it was Samson who had done this they took Samson's wife and her father and burned them with fire. (Kinda makes you think that she should have just told Samson what was happening in the first place because she and her dad ended up being burned anyway.) Samson took revenge on them and slaughtered them. So the Philistines rose up against Judah and came to arrest Samson. Looks like he went with them voluntarily. And after they travelled a while the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he broke the new ropes like flax picks up a donkeys jawbone and slays a thousand men. And then here is the 1st mention of Samson calling out to the Lord because he is thirsty. And God gave him water. So far we have seen that when Samson performs some death defying feat, the Spirit of the Lord has fallen mightily upon him. Was his strength really in his hair? I'm just sayin'. Let look at the great love story of Samson and Delilah.... Well first, as Samson enters Gaza(now there's a place where the Isreali's and Philistines ,oh I mean Palestinians, still struggle) , he's sees a prostitute and spends a little time with her. Then Samson falls in love with Delilah. But I am not so sure she was in love with him. These 5 Philistine lords told her they would each give her 1,100 pieces of silver if she could find out the source of Samson's strength. 1100 pieces of silver was a lot of cash. Delilah could have 2 idols made with that . But it wasn't just 1100 pieces, it was 1100 from each of the 5 lords. We're talking 5500 pieces of silver. You might recall that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver which was the going rate for a slave. Most people wouldn't see that much money in their lifetime. She could buy like a hundred slaves and chariots and all kinds of stuff. Oh the dilemma for her, love or money. Well we know what she chooses. She asks him and first he tells her that if he was bound with 7 fresh cords he would lose his strength and next thing ya know, the philistines are there binding him with 7 fresh cords. Of course she warns him and I guess he buys it. She she calls him a deceiver! Seriously? And then it was new ropes and then his dreads woven into a web and pinned. I am thinking by this point he would have figured out what was up. How many of us do that? I know I have convinced myself that I wasn't being played when I so was! I hate that. She accuses him again of deceiving her. She says "how can you say 'I love you' when your heart is not with me?" What must he have told himself. "Oh she is just testing me to see if I really trust her." I'm wondering why he didn't say, "how can YOU say 'I love you' and try to get me killed???" But, instead, he tells her that his secret and she gets him to go to sleep, calls for someone to come shave his head and steals his strength. I guess it really isn't stealing though if he just gives it away.
( So as I have been thinking about this for a week or so, I kinda feel bad for Samson. I may have been a little hard on him. I mean I am no better really. The guy was born and thrown into complete commitment without a choice. I don't know about you but I don't much care for expectations being placed on me. I wonder if he was able to keep his vow for most of his life. Could be. He resisted his Philistine wife for 7 days over a riddle. That was probably pretty tough. I know how women can be. While I can feel for the guy, the thing that gets me about
Samson was that he never really called on the Lord. He didn't seem to have much reverence or relationship with Him. If he had called on the Lord, he would have had power to overcome his temptations. He relied on his own strength. Just like I do all too often.)
I know many of you have heard the story of Samson and Delilah in Sunday school since you were little kids. Have you ever considered what you can learn from it, what you should apply? Reading the story of Samson's struggle is sort of like watching a scary movie and wishing you could yell at the dumb blond walking into the room where the murderer is. You want to yell 'run' or like the scriptures teach "Flee!" As far as I know Samson didn't marry Delilah and of course he hadn't married the prostitute. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says ' Flee sexual immorality! Every sin that a man commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body."
This is a mercy of God for him to tell us this. He didn't try to find the thing that we want the most and then make it the worst thing we can do. God created the sexual experience as a wonderful and beautiful thing inside of marriage. When you sin in other ways the restoration process is simpler, it is outside the body. If you steal, you can seek forgiveness and pay restitution. God is warning us because He so dearly loves us. He knows us best, after all, He created us. He knows that sex outside of marriage destroys. We do stupid things, make terrible mistakes, risk valuable relationships all for temporary pleasure. Samson was beguiled by Delilah. I have been beguiled. I know you have been too. Our enemy, the Devil, is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. I have been devoured. I hate that. Samson lost his strength, had his eyes gauged out and was ridiculed by his enemy. Don't you know that our enemy ridicules us too? Can't you imagine his snickers and all out evil laughter at our failings. I never want to give the enemy pleasure and yet I have far too many times to count. I also think it's important to note that every time Samson performed some great feat, God's word tells us that the Spirit of the Lord fell upon Samson. His hair represented Samson's strenth but his miraculous strength was from the Spirit of the Lord. That same spirit actually resides within us when we have given our lives to Christ. The same power that enabled Samson lives in us! Is there anything too hard for the Spirit of the Living God?
Samson was that he never really called on the Lord. He didn't seem to have much reverence or relationship with Him. If he had called on the Lord, he would have had power to overcome his temptations. He relied on his own strength. Just like I do all too often.)
I know many of you have heard the story of Samson and Delilah in Sunday school since you were little kids. Have you ever considered what you can learn from it, what you should apply? Reading the story of Samson's struggle is sort of like watching a scary movie and wishing you could yell at the dumb blond walking into the room where the murderer is. You want to yell 'run' or like the scriptures teach "Flee!" As far as I know Samson didn't marry Delilah and of course he hadn't married the prostitute. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says ' Flee sexual immorality! Every sin that a man commits is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body."
This is a mercy of God for him to tell us this. He didn't try to find the thing that we want the most and then make it the worst thing we can do. God created the sexual experience as a wonderful and beautiful thing inside of marriage. When you sin in other ways the restoration process is simpler, it is outside the body. If you steal, you can seek forgiveness and pay restitution. God is warning us because He so dearly loves us. He knows us best, after all, He created us. He knows that sex outside of marriage destroys. We do stupid things, make terrible mistakes, risk valuable relationships all for temporary pleasure. Samson was beguiled by Delilah. I have been beguiled. I know you have been too. Our enemy, the Devil, is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. I have been devoured. I hate that. Samson lost his strength, had his eyes gauged out and was ridiculed by his enemy. Don't you know that our enemy ridicules us too? Can't you imagine his snickers and all out evil laughter at our failings. I never want to give the enemy pleasure and yet I have far too many times to count. I also think it's important to note that every time Samson performed some great feat, God's word tells us that the Spirit of the Lord fell upon Samson. His hair represented Samson's strenth but his miraculous strength was from the Spirit of the Lord. That same spirit actually resides within us when we have given our lives to Christ. The same power that enabled Samson lives in us! Is there anything too hard for the Spirit of the Living God?
